Sections

Tracer experiments

Study of Film Formation with tracer experiments

By varying the chemical nature of the tracer we expect that we can measure selectively the dynamic in different compartments (eg. polymer phase, water phase or interface) during the process of film formation.

A hydrophilic tracer is expected to diffuse freely in the water phase. When the dispersion gets more concentrated its diffusion is hindered by the polymer particles which it cannot access. In the final film the tracer might be localized in the interface.

A hydrophobic dye tracer or a labeled emulsifier are both expected to be associated with the polymer particles, thus reflecting the dynamics of the latter. In the film one would expect localization or diffusion in the interface as well as in the polymer phase. This behavior should strongly depend on the polymer composition and nature of the tracer.

Labeled polymer chains can especially be used to follow the interdiffusion in the final step of the film forming process.